Code Brown!
One of the really nice things about working on a labor and delivery unit is the minimal amount of ass-wiping you do as compared to, say, on a typical med/surg floor. Sure, a lot of women poop a little (even a lot) while they're pushing. But scooping up a little accidental turdlet when you're waiting for a baby is just not a huge inconvenience -- it has a totally different character than cleaning up a really sick patient who is regularly incontinent of bowel. One turd is happy, even celebratory -- a new beginning -- the first turd of the rest of your life. While the other is sad and bleak and often goes hand in hand with a permanent loss of independence.
So I've been kind of surprised by the amount of shit I've been seeing lately. I'm not gonna go into any details...but if you have a patient who is still kooky from pain killers (and her own low level, pre-existing, in born kookiness) tell you that she cannot lift her butt up off of the bedpan (which, by the way is full in a mixed media, sloshy sort of way), do NOT believe her! Do NOT pull hard on the bedpan! Because the minute you do, she'll lift that butt up. And there are few things less enjoyable than a five AM shit shower.
On the other hand, if you have ever been a patient who had to have your butt wiped by a nurse, please do not feel that you lost your dignity, even for a minute. There is no indignity in accepting care from others when you need it.
4 asking for pain meds:
OK, now I don't feel so bad about pooping when having my son. Thanks. :)
Jennifer, you shouldn't feel bad at all. Pooping while you're pushing only means that you are doing it (pushing, that is) exactly right! Congratulations on your son.
Okay, so nurses weren't looking at me weird when they kept having to change my pad after i had my daughter. Good to know.
thank you, thank you! I needed to hear that after having two kiddos. I was sooooo embarassed!!
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